Early Bedtimes Work, Too, for Sleep-Deprived Teens

(By Julie Zhu)

The 1998 group rejected the change because of the massive disruption to the entire community: "Like the legendary Gordian Knot, which could not be untied by conventional means, the Task Force was unable to identify a way to change bell schedules that would not require other significant changes."

An independent consultant in 2006 noted the great risks and increased costs: A "shift to later secondary school start times can be accomplished for an incremental cost increase of between 10 and 13 percent of current transportation costs."

Whatever the final decision, these conclusions need to be available. Research from all points of view is available on the task force Web site, http://www.fcps.edu/fts/taskforce07/documents/index.htm. Look before you leap.

Patricia Velkoff

Parent; member,

Transportation Task Force;

chairman, task force

minority report

Fairfax County

I reserved the whole column for your letter because, in my usual ignorance, I was unaware of any significant parental opposition to the later high school start time proposal.

Many of your arguments make sense. I still lean toward the position of SLEEP, which has gotten space in this column and has among its leaders my former Washington Post colleague Sandra Evans.

As a late riser, blessed to work for a morning newspaper where hardly anyone shows up before 10 a.m., I always felt sorry for my kids -- and me, their chauffeur -- when they headed off to high school at dawn. But you have done a great job buttressing the other side of this issue.

A small group of parents, representing all incomes and ethnicities in the system, was invited by the School Board's linkage committee to discuss the proposal in study circles in June. Most high school parents liked the current schedule but said they could support the proposed change. Parents of middle school students, who would start at 9:20 a.m., voiced strong opposition, school spokeswoman Barbara Hunter said.

Every district in this area has talked about the sleep deprivation problem among high school students. I would like to hear from more readers on this.

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